Albert Bates - Burn: Using Fire to Cool the Earth

PRAISE FORBURN

Were in a climate emergency, and we need to be using an awful lot of different approachesheres one that definitely deserves to be explored in full.

BILL MCKIBBEN, author of Falter

Burn advances the discussion from fantasies of biochar-based agriculture to normative proposals for many ways the material could theoretically be used as an environmentally attractive, economically competitive resource in many sectors of society. The book opens new avenues of thought, and it will be a valuable reference in the coming decade in helping us to assess the inevitable cascade of ever bigger, riskier, costlier, and zanier proposals for carbon withdrawal.

DENNIS MEADOWS, 2018 laureate, The Earth Hall of Fame Kyoto

For anyone interested in solutions to climate change, this book is absolutely essential reading. It represents the latest, most innovative thinking and experimentation on removing carbon from the atmosphere. Whats delightfully startling is the authors detailed, example-laden argument that we can use carbon to regenerate landscapes while also producing an astounding array of productsfrom concrete to plastics to batteries to paperthat function better by incorporating the universes most versatile element. Written in a clear, entertaining style, Burn is an incendiary contribution.

RICHARD HEINBERG, senior fellow, Post Carbon Institute

I cannot recommend this book highly enough for going deep into the science of a potentially revolutionary technology that could be capable of stopping dangerous climate change in its tracks. For anyone who wants to know how societies can transform the very fabric of how we run our industries so that we protect and enhance our environment, not destroy itwhile contributing to thriving economiesthis is literally the manual. It is, in short, a window into the future we could build together. So read it, and start building.

DR. NAFEEZ AHMED, system shift columnist, Motherboard; editor-in-chief, INSURGE Intelligence; research fellow, The Schumacher Institute

What if we could make carbon our ally, instead of our enemy, in preserving this planet? This deeply detailed book is about far more than the ancient, carbon-fixing Amazonian soil technology called terra preta . Practically everything humans do, Burn shows, could reimburse the Earth for the carbon weve exhumed, leaving civilization far cleaner and healthierand with a chance for a future.

ALAN WEISMAN, author of Countdown , The World Without Us , and Gaviotas

Carbon, the most promiscuous of elements, can be our ruination or by better management, our salvation. Burn is a clear, accessible, and luminescent blueprint for the latter. It really is a must-read.

DAVID ORR, author of Dangerous Years

Carbon is the element that likes to hold hands and collaborate. We can learn a lot from carbon if we stop demonizing it. Burn does an exceptional job telling the vital story of how carbon can address the interconnected crises in waste, energy, food, soil, water, and, most pressingly, climate. This book plays a critical role in educating us to reorient with carbon math, reimagine the role of carbon cascades, and redesign the carbon cycle.

AMANDA JOY RAVENHILL, executive director, Buckminster Fuller Institute; cofounder, Project Drawdown

This book is a big deal. It argues persuasively that carbon has been vilified for far too long. Biochar, a hard, crystal-like form of carbon, can reanimate tired soils and help to mop up vast amounts of CO from the atmosphere. The authors speak as seasoned scientists as well as practitioners, and their arsenal of arguments offers more than a glimpse of hope in a world threatened with climate doom. If there is a way out, here is a bunch of keys to the door at the end of the tunnel.

HERBERT GIRARDET, cofounder, World Future Council; executive council member, Club of Rome

Brilliant in its range and depth, Burn offers an integrated approach to addressing climate change and biodiversity loss and provides potential solutions for tackling the full range of activities that negatively impact our climate. It is a groundbreaking sequel to The Paris Agreement and gives hope to a world currently facing a multiplicity of interlinked crises.

FEARGAL DUFF, environmental activist

ALSO BY ALBERT BATES

Shutdown! Nuclear Power on Trial

Climate in Crisis: The Greenhouse Effect and What We Can Do

The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook: Recipes for Changing Times

The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change

The Paris Agreement: The Best Chance We Have to Save the One Planet Weve Got

ALSO BY KATHLEEN DRAPER

Terra Preta: How the Worlds Most Fertile Soil Can Help Reverse Climate Change and Reduce World Hunger

BURN

Using Fire to Cool the Earth

Albert Bates Kathleen Draper

C HELSEA G REEN P UBLISHING

White River Junction, Vermont

London, UK

Copyright 2018 by Albert Bates and Kathleen Draper

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

Project Manager: Alexander Bullett

Developmental Editor: Brianne Goodspeed

Copy Editor: Deborah Heimann

Proofreader: Laura Jorstad

Indexer: Linda Hallinger

Designer: Melissa Jacobson

Printed in Canada.

First printing February, 2019.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 19 20 21 22 23

Our Commitment to Green Publishing

Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because it was printed on paper that contains recycled fiber, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Chelsea Green is a member of the Green Press Initiative (www.greenpressinitiative.org), a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Burn was printed on paper supplied by Marquis that contains 100% postconsumer recycled fiber.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bates, Albert K., 1947- author. | Draper, Kathleen, author.

Title: Burn : using fire to cool the earth / Albert Bates and Kathleen Draper.

Description: White River Junction, Vermont : Chelsea Green Publishing, [2019] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018047434| ISBN 9781603587839 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781603587846 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Climate change mitigation--Popular works. | Carbon dioxide

mitigation--Popular works. | Biomass energy--Popular works. | Climatic changes--Social aspects--Popular works. | Global warming--Social aspects--Popular works.

Classification: LCC TD171.75 .B38 2019 | DDC 363.738/746--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018047434

Chelsea Green Publishing

85 North Main Street, Suite 120

White River Junction, VT 05001

(802) 295-6300

www.chelseagreen.com

To Hans-Peter Schmidt and Gunter Pauli.

Where others see only separation, they perceive connection.

CONTENTS

PART I
Carbon Change: From Nemesis to Ally

PART II